NotTV: Famed military 'paper' facing closure

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Bob Jersey

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Sep 4, 2020, 12:04:06 PM9/4/20
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Plump's latest budget would zero out the $15.5mil funding for Stars and Stripes, in existence since the Civil War (!) with north of 1.3mil current readers, and both sides of the aisle are not thrilled, even POTUS ally Lindsey Graham...


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Kevin M.

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Sep 4, 2020, 12:52:34 PM9/4/20
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We’d get issues sometimes in the Peace Corps, along with the international edition of Newsweek. Both were extremely partisan, poorly edited, and just shy of propaganda. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

Jim Ellwanger

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Sep 4, 2020, 1:23:02 PM9/4/20
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Just so Kevin isn't the only one on this list with an opinionated response - I have no personal experience with Stars and Stripes, but my college acquaintance Michael Schneide grew up as a military brat, mostly in Hawaii, and is now an editor at Variety:




Tom Wolper

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Sep 4, 2020, 1:39:50 PM9/4/20
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On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 12:52 PM Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:
We’d get issues sometimes in the Peace Corps, along with the international edition of Newsweek. Both were extremely partisan, poorly edited, and just shy of propaganda.

I used to get Newsweek International in the late 1980s when I lived on a kibbutz in northern Israel and I liked it. It was written for international businesspeople and it gave a better snapshot of what was going on in the world than domestic Newsweek did.

As for Stars & Stripes, if Trump is shutting it down it's because of some tantrum he is having over some of its coverage. But I can't imagine being on a military base with a smartphone or tablet, having instant access to all manner of news, and paying any attention to a printed newspaper. In terms of journalism if the editors have to answer to senior officers, and as it comes from the Pentagon they do, then they have no ability to talk truth to power and that impacts their usefulness. There really needs to be journalism about the military but it also has to be independent so that if reporters want to cover drug addiction, suicides, sexual misconduct, or any other difficult parts of military life they can be credible.

As part of the general corruption of this administration Trump is putting cronies in charge of legacy government communication outfits and they are broadcasting party propaganda instead of US propaganda. The Voice of America is a good example. What I don't understand is why we still have a Voice of America. The idea we had when I was young of people behind the Iron Curtain listening on their transistor radios is long obsolete.

Kevin M.

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Sep 4, 2020, 1:56:19 PM9/4/20
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On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 10:39 AM Tom Wolper <two...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 12:52 PM Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:
We’d get issues sometimes in the Peace Corps, along with the international edition of Newsweek. Both were extremely partisan, poorly edited, and just shy of propaganda.

I used to get Newsweek International in the late 1980s when I lived on a kibbutz in northern Israel and I liked it. It was written for international businesspeople and it gave a better snapshot of what was going on in the world than domestic Newsweek did.

In 2002-2003, the only time anyone with brown skin appeared on the cover of Newsweek Int., they were a terrorist or holding a gun or both. They were anti-Islamic, and it was embarrassing for me to be living in a Muslim country and getting that in the mail. 

As for Stars & Stripes, if Trump is shutting it down it's because of some tantrum he is having over some of its coverage. But I can't imagine being on a military base with a smartphone or tablet, having instant access to all manner of news, and paying any attention to a printed newspaper. In terms of journalism if the editors have to answer to senior officers, and as it comes from the Pentagon they do, then they have no ability to talk truth to power and that impacts their usefulness.

I’m not sure what the editorial hierarchy is at S&S, but as the world was unreservedly against the US invading and decimating Afghanistan, the paper offered no evidence of that... the troops were great, the commanders were great, mission accomplished, and all that. Admittedly, most if not all US media acted the same way, but coming from S&S felt especially  manipulative.


There really needs to be journalism about the military but it also has to be independent so that if reporters want to cover drug addiction, suicides, sexual misconduct, or any other difficult parts of military life they can be credible.

As part of the general corruption of this administration Trump is putting cronies in charge of legacy government communication outfits and they are broadcasting party propaganda instead of US propaganda. The Voice of America is a good example. What I don't understand is why we still have a Voice of America. The idea we had when I was young of people behind the Iron Curtain listening on their transistor radios is long obsolete.








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Kevin M. (RPCV)

Melissa P

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Sep 4, 2020, 2:24:38 PM9/4/20
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Warning:  Totally Off Topic

Many, many, many years ago, I had to spend a few days in a local hospital.  I had a roommate for most of those days.  We got along really well, probably because neither of us had anything seriously wrong with us.  I remember that she was there to be in traction because she had recently been in a car accident.  She also had a boyfriend and his uncle Moishe who visited every day.  My mother and I also enjoyed their company. 

For many years now, I haven't been able to remember her name.  Well, that changed when I read Bob's post.  Her name was Kathy Kiely.

Okay, just because I can now remember her name doesn't mean that it's the same Kathy Kiely, although -- according to a google search -- the age looks correct, and if she's not currently based in DC, she was for many years.

So, thanks for that post, Bob!


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Tom Wolper

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Sep 5, 2020, 10:34:36 AM9/5/20
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On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 1:56 PM Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:

In 2002-2003, the only time anyone with brown skin appeared on the cover of Newsweek Int., they were a terrorist or holding a gun or both. They were anti-Islamic, and it was embarrassing for me to be living in a Muslim country and getting that in the mail. 

I will admit my sensibilities were different back then and I could well have had a blind spot about Newsweek biases. I do remember that they covered domestic stories in Asia and Africa but those stories might have been aimed at informing investors rather than letting people tell their own stories.

As for Stars & Stripes, if Trump is shutting it down it's because of some tantrum he is having over some of its coverage. But I can't imagine being on a military base with a smartphone or tablet, having instant access to all manner of news, and paying any attention to a printed newspaper. In terms of journalism if the editors have to answer to senior officers, and as it comes from the Pentagon they do, then they have no ability to talk truth to power and that impacts their usefulness.

I’m not sure what the editorial hierarchy is at S&S, but as the world was unreservedly against the US invading and decimating Afghanistan, the paper offered no evidence of that... the troops were great, the commanders were great, mission accomplished, and all that. Admittedly, most if not all US media acted the same way, but coming from S&S felt especially  manipulative.

Whatever caused the Pentagon to announce the shutdown of Stars & Stripes, Trump caved to pressure and reverswed the decision:

Doug Fields

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Sep 5, 2020, 12:35:20 PM9/5/20
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The Stars and Stripes was my newspaper of choice in my Marine Corps days overseas on Guam and Okinawa during the mid-80s, if for no other reason than they were one of the first papers to publish Calvin and Hobbes on the comics page.  They banked an awful lot of brownie points with me for that move, and I can forgive some obvious partisanship.

Doug Fields
Tampa, FL


From: tvor...@googlegroups.com <tvor...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 12:52 PM
To: tvor...@googlegroups.com <tvor...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] NotTV: Famed military 'paper' facing closure
 

PGage

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Sep 5, 2020, 7:57:45 PM9/5/20
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This whole thing appears to have been a set up. Several posters on Twitter predicted as soon as the suspension of S&S by “The Pentagon” that Trump would swoop in after and brag about saving it, which is what happened. May have been precipitated by the Atlantic story.

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Bob Jersey

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Sep 7, 2020, 10:08:13 AM9/7/20
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This writer was at USA Today quite a few years, and before that at WAMU, but is now based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Glad to help.

MelissaP, to moi, September 4th:
Warning:  Totally Off Topic

Many, many, many years ago, I had to spend a few days in a local hospital.  I had a roommate for most of those days.  We got along really well, probably because neither of us had anything seriously wrong with us.  I remember that she was there to be in traction because she had recently been in a car accident.  She also had a boyfriend and his uncle Moishe who visited every day.  My mother and I also enjoyed their company. 

For many years now, I haven't been able to remember her name.  Well, that changed when I read Bob's post.  Her name was Kathy Kiely.

Okay, just because I can now remember her name doesn't mean that it's the same Kathy Kiely, although -- according to a google search -- the age looks correct, and if she's not currently based in DC, she was for many years.

So, thanks for that post, Bob!

 
B

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